Boyzone @ Entertainment Centre Theatre, Adelaide 2/4/2019
Irish heartthrobs Boyzone fare-welled Adelaide last night as they stopped by the Adelaide Entertainment Centre Theatre during their “Thank you & Goodnight” Farewell tour. The boyband first formed in 1993 consisting of five members – Ronan Keating, Keith Duffy, Mikey Graham, Shane Lynch and Stephen Gately. To date they have sold over 25 million records worldwide and only just released their final album Thank you & Goodnight in November last year following their announcement that the band would officially split after their Farewell tour.
In fact, this is not the first time the band announced a split, in 2009 band member Stephen Gately tragically passed away while holidaying in the Spanish island of Majorca which left the band devastated and unable to go on.
However, that did not dampen the mood of the primarily female audience as Boyzone graced the stage and started off with their anthem Who We Are followed by Love Is A Hurricane and their hit single Isn’t It A Wonder.
They sang some of their classic cover songs next including Baby Can I Hold You Tonight (Tracy Chapman), Father and Son (Cat Stevens), Words (Bee Gees) and Love Me For A Reason (The Osmonds).
The audience went quiet when the band paid a beautiful homage to Stephen Gately by playing a video reminiscing about him and how much he brought to their lives while he was still around; so much that they still see the band as being five members because his spirit lives on and is always on stage with them.
Boyzone went on to sing a song off their new album called Dream dedicated to Stephen while a light shone in the middle of them representing him. “We remember our mate Stephen at every show we do” said Keith Duffy who had just joined the tour again and performed his first Australian show in Adelaide after falling ill in Thailand last week.
As the night went on my boyband loving heart was filled with your typical boy band dance moves, cheesy love songs and thrusting hips and the only thing missing were fanatic teenage girls screaming from the top of their lungs. This time, they were there all grown up with their husbands, kids or best friends sitting down clapping politely.
To end a perfect night Ronan Keating fans were treated to two of his biggest hits Life Is A Rollercoaster and Picture of You sung by the whole band as the Encore.
I left feeling nostalgic, reminiscing about the 90s – the era of boybands and realised that even though this was the first time Boyzone have toured Australia & New Zealand it is also said to be the last. There is still a chance to catch a last glimpse as Boyzone will play their final show in Australia on the 7th of April on the Gold Coast and then head off to New Zealand for a further two shows.
“If you do a job that you love, you’ll never work a day in your life. Thanks to you we have never worked a day in our lives”, said Ronan Keating, “and for that we are eternally grateful.”
And what a send-off it was…..Thank you, Boyzone & Goodbye!
Live Review By Isabell Al-Nahat